Publications and experience

Ms. Sullivan-DeCarlo is an experienced journalism and PR practioner whose varied career
has included news reporting, government communications and teaching. She is the former director of communications for New Haven Public Schools, the state's second largest school district, and a former
media campaign director and press secretary for New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr.
She has won several communications and journalism awards for her work, including several
from the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, and a 1984 reporting award
from the CT Society for Professional Journalists. In 2004, she won the Seton Elm Ivy
Award, YaleUniversity, for positive collaborations between YaleUniversity and the New HavenPublic Schools. In 2007, she was honored by the New Haven Business Times as one of 20 noteworthy
women in New Haven. Catherine coordinated New Haven's successful application in 1998 as an All-AmericaCity and directed the application process that led to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Reginald
Mayo being named Connecticut Superintendent of the Year and a finalist for National
Superintendent of the Year. She is president of CONNSPRA, the Connecticut chapter of the National School Public Relations Association. She has also served
on the New Haven Commission on Substance Abuse Policy and Prevention.